San Bernardino’s Garner Holt, an industry leader in theme park technology, will get a lifetime achievement award from his peers. His company is about to begin a major renovation of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Mine Ride.

“We wanted to stay in the region,” he said in a phone interview Friday, March 23. “This is where my heart is.”

The move crosses city lines but actually keeps the company in its stomping ground, according to Holt. It has outgrown its current facilities, which are spread across four buildings a few blocks north of Hospitality Lane. After a months-long search that included San Bernardino, Riverside and Las Vegas, Holt said the Redlands site is “the only one in this region that would work for us.”

Holt said he called the mayors of San Bernardino and Redlands before releasing the news Friday morning. Redlands Mayor Paul W. Foster was ecstatic and San Bernardino Mayor R. Carey Davis was supportive.

Holt got his start trying to build his own Disneyland in his parent’s backyard on unincorporated land near Norton Air Force Base. He set up his company as a teenager and when it started to grow he moved it to San Bernardino, where it had three different locations over the years.

He has been at his current plant for 20 years, producing such wonders as the 45-foot fire-breathing dragon in Disneyland’s Fantasmic; several characters for Disney California Adventures’ Radiator Springs Racers; and the updates for Knott’s Berry Farm’s Timber Mountain Log Ride.

The new 120,000-square-foot building is just as close to where Holt’s parent’s house was and nearly triple his space. Currently, to get from one department to another, he has to cross two city streets and a parking lot.

San Bernardino’s Garner Holt, an industry leader in theme park technology, shows off his work in 2013.

San Bernardino’s Garner Holt, an industry leader in theme park technology, will get a lifetime achievement award from his peers. His company is about to begin a major renovation of Knott’s Berry Farm’s Mine Ride.

Garner Holt poses with one of his creations at his plant in San Bernardino.

“It’s going to allow us to serve our clients more efficiently,” said Bill Butler, director of creative design.

Holt said the new location will also enable the company to grow in a new direction, adding education products and services to its portfolio. Its offerings could include facility tours and construction kits, initially targeting K-6 students.

Holt has been a supporter of arts and technology education locally, including outreach to Cal State San Bernardino and San Bernardino’s Bing Wong Elementary School. The company is also currently collaborating on a retrospective with the San Bernardino County Museum and an exhibit at the Lincoln Memorial Shrine.

“It’s important to me to do things outside of entertainment,” Holt said.

The move will begin in a few weeks and likely take months to complete.

Holt said his business relationships in San Bernardino won’t change and even expects to continue going to the same restaurants.

Garner Holt Productions

1974: Garner Holt builds his first haunted house in his parents’ backyard.

1975: Haunted House opens at Central City Mall (later the Carousel Mall) in San Bernardino.

July 25, 1977: Holt incorporates Garner Holt Productions at age 16.

1993: After years of small contracts, Holt lands a deal to build figures for a log ride at MGM Grand Adventures in Las Vegas.

1998: Company begins building animatronics for Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, eventually building hundreds of singing mice.

2001: Company creates Jack Skellington and other figures for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion Holiday.

Fielding Buck has been a business reporter since 2014 with a focus on logistics, supply chain and GIS. Prior experience includes extensive entertainment reporting. He loves photography and dogs and lives in San Bernardino County.